


Like Magic

by holtzbabe



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Childhood Friends, F/F, I haven't decided yet, Nevermind rowans in this because i ran out of characters, There are little or no Harry Potter characters in this, but as for GB characters the gang's all here!, except Rowan because nobody likes Rowan, poor Erin can't catch a break even in an AU, prologue aside this is gonna take place in their sixth year, three AUs for the price of one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-08-29 07:58:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8481706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holtzbabe/pseuds/holtzbabe
Summary: “Hey, promise me that we’ll stay friends even if we get sorted into different houses?” Jillian asked anxiously.“Of course!” Erin reassured her. She already couldn’t imagine not being friends with Jillian.Or, Hogwarts AU.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a Tumblr prompt. Hope I do this justice!

**September**

Erin Gilbert stared out the window of her train compartment at the busy platform and tried to quiet the nervous butterflies in her stomach. Over the past few months, she’d learned that not only was she a _witch_ , but she had been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For the first time in her life, she had an explanation for the weird things that always happened outside her control. She wanted to rub it in the faces of her mom and dad, who sent her to see Dr. Jenkins once a week because they thought she was making it up for attention. Dr. Jenkins gave her little blue pills to take every day and asked her questions about her friends and family, and Erin didn’t see the point in any of it.

Erin’s mom and dad didn’t seem as relieved as Erin was when a student from Hogwarts showed up with her letter and explained that she was a witch. In fact, they said they weren’t going to let her go because they didn’t want to encourage Erin’s delusions.

In the end, though, she begged and pleaded and reminded them that if she went to Hogwarts, they’d only have to see her for a few months of the year. That made up their minds.

So here she was, on the train that would take her to Hogwarts. Her mom and dad had left her at the station without waiting to make sure she made it on her train okay. Erin was lucky that a nice family had spotted her and shown her how to get to Platform 9 ¾.  

The door to the compartment slid open, and in poked the head of a girl. She had a tangled mess of hair the colour of wet sand and she was wearing paint-covered dungarees and brightly coloured mismatched socks.

“Hi,” she said. “Can I sit in here?”

Erin nodded eagerly.

The girl grinned and stepped inside. She sat across from Erin and extended her hand. “My name is Jillian Holtzmann.”

Erin hesitated for a second. She’d never met an 11-year-old who shook hands. Maybe it was a witch thing? She shook the girl’s hand. “I’m Erin. Erin Gilbert.”

“Nice to meet you, Erin Gilbert. Is this your first year too?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know I was a witch, so I’m really nervous,” Erin blurted.

“I’m from a muggle family too,” Jillian said. “I didn’t even know magic was real!”

“Me neither!” Erin giggled. “Hogwarts sounds so cool. What house do you think you’ll be in?”

The student who had delivered her letter had told her all about the different houses. Erin hoped that maybe she’d be sorted into Ravenclaw, but she wasn’t sure.

“I dunno, but I’m excited to find out,” Jillian replied. “Hey, did you hear that they have _ghosts_ at Hogwarts? Isn’t that cool?”

They continued to talk for the entire train ride to Hogwarts. Erin was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Jillian. She was a little weird, but she was friendly and Erin felt comfortable around her. She could tell they were going to be good friends.

As they arrived at the castle, the two of them looked around in marvel. It was even more spectacular than Erin imagined. They waited alongside the rest of the first years to be led into the Great Hall.

Jillian turned to Erin. “Hey, promise me that we’ll stay friends even if we get sorted into different houses?” she asked anxiously.

“Of course!” Erin reassured her. She already couldn’t imagine not being friends with Jillian.

They entered the Great Hall. Erin felt her face go pink under the gazes of everyone in the large room. She distracted herself by looking around. She was transfixed by the beautiful stars on the ceiling. It looked like there wasn’t a ceiling at all.

The sorting happened alphabetically, so Erin went before Jillian. She took a seat on the stool and felt the Sorting Hat rest on her head.

“Ooh, interesting,” a low voice said in her ear. “Lots of ambition, I see. You’re driven, but you don’t believe in yourself just yet. You have so much potential. Where to put you…hmm…better be…SLYTHERIN!”

The Hat lifted off her head as the far table cheered. Erin stumbled her way over there and took a seat. Up at the front of the room, Jillian was sitting on the stool with the Sorting Hat on her head. Erin crossed her fingers under the table.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” The Hat shouted.

Erin felt disappointed. She watched Jillian cross over to the Hufflepuff table. She looked up and met Erin’s eyes from across the room, and she looked just as disappointed as Erin felt. She mouthed something that Erin couldn’t make out and flashed a sad thumbs up.

A boy across the table from Erin followed her gaze to Jillian. “Word of advice,” he said, “you’ll want to stick to making friends in your own house. You don’t want to attract the wrong sort.”

Erin wanted to argue that Jillian wasn’t ‘the wrong sort’ at all, but her mouth dried up. She wanted her house to like her—should she really be arguing with people on the first day?

She nodded and spent the rest of the night avoiding Jillian’s eyes.


	2. September

**September, five years later**

Erin pulled her tie snug to her neck, made sure her Prefect badge was sitting flat on her chest, and stepped off the Hogwarts Express for her sixth year.

Already, she felt like she was home. She could breathe easier when she was at Hogwarts. It was her happy place—even after the debacle of last year. She hoped that over the summer, everyone had forgotten about the events of the prior April.

Inside the castle, she took a seat at the Slytherin table. Instantly, there were a few scattered giggles and she heard that horrendous nickname whispered somewhere down the table.

Great.

Just down the table, Erin’s ex-boyfriend Phil and his blundering henchmen Hawkins and Rorke took a seat.

“Oh look,” Phil said in a stage whisper, “it’s Ghost Girl.”

Erin felt her cheeks flame. She didn’t have anything she could say to him, so she pretended she couldn’t hear and kept her head down.

The year was off to a great start already.

***

Erin sat at a table alone in her first class of NEWT-level Potions. At the back of the classroom, she could hear Phil sniggering at the fact that nobody wanted to sit beside her.

Professor Heiss leaned on his cane at the front of the room. “Silence, everyone. We have a great deal to get through this year, and we’ll begin right away. Today, we’ll be starting with a—”

The door to the dungeons banged open and everyone turned to look at the latecomer. Erin nearly groaned.

Of _course_ it was her.

Jillian Holtzmann hadn’t changed much in the past five years. She’d started lightening her hair with a spell that only she seemed to know, and now wore it in some elaborately chaotic side-swept updo instead of in messy curls down her back. Somewhere along the way, she’d added a pair of yellow-lensed glasses to her look. She had only gotten weirder with age, and she was known around the castle for the pranks that she’d blame on the resident poltergeist, Shanks. That, and for threatening to curse anyone who called her by her first name.

“Miss Holtzmann. How nice of you to grace us with your presence,” Professor Heiss said snidely. “Five points will be taken from Hufflepuff for your tardiness. Take your seat.”

Erin watched as she sauntered across the classroom with no sense of urgency. Erin realized belatedly that the seat beside her was the only empty one in the room. Oh no. Erin snapped her head to the front and prayed that another spot would magically appear.

With a thud, Holtzmann sat down next to her. Erin kept her eyes trained on Professor Heiss.

“As I was saying, today we’ll be starting with a Shrinking Solution to get you warmed up. Remember, if prepared incorrectly, your potion will be poisonous.”

They set to work. Erin fixated on the task at hand and tried to ignore the girl beside her.

She was carefully mincing her daisy roots when a splatter of liquid hit her cheek. She looked sharply over.

“Do you _mind_ , Holtzmann?”

“Nope,” the Hufflepuff replied, popping the p. She continued cheerfully juicing her leeches in such a way that they squirted at Erin again.

“Stop that!”

Holtzmann began chopping her own daisy roots roughly and so haphazardly that little bits were flying off the table in all directions. She scooped them up—they were far from minced—and tossed them into her cauldron.

Erin couldn’t watch her any longer, it was going to annoy her too much.

By the last step, Erin’s potion had turned the perfect shade of green.

Holtzmann’s was red and bubbling angrily.

Professor Heiss sneered down at her through his glasses. “Congratulations, Miss Holtzmann. You’ve made poison.”

***

Erin had intended to make good on her promise to Jillian from before the sorting ceremony, she really had. In the end, though, her desperate need for others’ approval got the best of her.

A few days after the ceremony, Jillian had caught up to Erin when she was walking to Charms with one of her new Slytherin friends, Jennifer Lynch.

“Erin!” Jillian had called.

They turned to see her running down the corridor towards them. She ran in a peculiar way, with her legs wide and her knees bent, and her arms flailing everywhere.

Jennifer giggled. “Do you know her?”

“Umm…”

Jillian arrived at them and beamed at Erin. “Hi! I haven’t seen you at all since the sorting! We have Charms together, don’t we?”

Erin stared at the ground and didn’t answer.

“Erin?” Jillian repeated, sounding unsure of herself.

“Hey, weirdo, she obviously doesn’t want to talk to you,” Jennifer said.

Erin’s heart plummeted. She wanted to defend Jillian and their friendship, but the distaste in Jennifer’s voice was obvious. Erin stayed silent, and didn’t look up to see the look on Jillian’s face.

“Right.” Jillian’s voice wavered. “Alright then. Bye, Erin.”

She fled past Erin and into the open classroom, bumping into her on the way by.

“What a strange little thing,” Jennifer said with pity. “I doubt she’ll bother you again.”

When Erin entered in to take her own seat, she pretended she couldn’t see the way Jillian’s head was bent and her shoulders were shaking just slightly.

Jennifer was right: Jillian never tried to speak to her again after that.

***

Much to Erin’s dismay, Holtzmann continued to show up late to Potions, and she continued to sit beside Erin each class.

Watching her make her potions was maddening, because at least 90% of the time her potion turned out despite her haphazard way of preparing it. She cut ingredients to the wrong size, completed steps out of order, paid no attention to the direction she stirred, and she seemed to use the instructions as a set of guidelines (that she didn’t follow anyway), and it _still_ turned out. It made Erin want to scream.

The other 10% of the time, the potion went terribly awry. They were a few weeks into September, and her cauldron had already exploded twice and spontaneously caught on fire one time.

Erin, of course, always prepared her potion perfectly. She was top of her class, after all.

“Does everybody see the colour that Miss Gilbert’s potion is?” Professor Heiss asked one day. “ _That_ is the correct colour.”

“Ghost Girl the Teacher’s Pet,” a voice from the back of the classroom muttered. “Wonder how she managed that.”

“I bet she cried in his office,” another voice replied. “Ooh, Heiss, please b-b-be my friend.”

There was laughter.

Erin shrunk down. She felt Holtzmann’s gaze scrutinizing her.

“Can you stop staring at me?” Erin hissed finally.

Holtzmann looked away.

***

Erin was sitting on the ground against a tree and working on a History of Magic essay when she heard a sharp burst of laughter across the grounds. She assumed it was directed at her, but when she looked up she saw Holtzmann, walking with a Ravenclaw girl named Patricia Tolan, and Abigail Yates, a Gryffindor. Holtzmann appeared to be telling a rousing story, using her hands to talk, and the other girls were laughing hard.

Holtzmann didn’t seem to have noticed Erin yet, so she used the opportunity to take a good look at the kooky Hufflepuff.

She walked with a swagger that only she could pull off. She had grown into her personality, and she carried herself with confidence that Erin envied. The sleeves of her white shirt were sloppily rolled up to her elbows, and her tie hung loose around her neck. Mismatched socks poked out underneath her slightly-too-short pant legs. Her wild blonde hair seemed to defy gravity, and Erin wondered if it was a product of magic or merely good hair products.

Holtzmann noticed her, then, and her story died off. Her friends followed her stare to Erin. Yates had a pinched expression on her face, and Tolan shook her head.

Holtzmann just held Erin’s gaze as they continued to walk. Her expression was unreadable. Erin felt herself shrink under the intensity of Holtzmann’s stare, and just when she was about to bow her head, the Hufflepuff tore her eyes away and resumed her story.

Erin watched her retreating back and felt strangely hollow, and a low ache spread across her chest at what could’ve been.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of sadness, I promise!! Also, my minor character sorting choices have been more plot-related than personality-related. Just in case you take offense to any of them.


	3. October

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! I know it's been a while since I last updated this! I've had everything but one scene of this written for a while and I finally finished it up. School is literal hell right now. I'm currently sitting in the library working on a huge assignment due in 3 days. I slept 3.5 hours last night. I'm on campus for 9.5 hours today. I am taking a break to post this for my own mental sanity. Enjoy! :D

**October**

Jillian Holtzmann had spent five years trying to prove to herself that she didn’t need Erin Gilbert’s friendship, and it took one month of sitting beside her in Potions to bring her back to square one.

Holtz didn’t know exactly what it was about Gilbert that pulled her in. She didn’t know why she wanted to be her friend so badly. She didn’t know why she was the one Holtz spotted across the Great Hall, even without looking for her.

Maybe it was just because Erin Gilbert was the first friend Holtz ever made. Even though self-preservation told her that Gilbert was a bad person and not someone whose friendship Holtzmann should be striving for, something in her heart told her that the Erin she met on the train was the _real_ Erin, and that Erin was the one who Holtz wanted to be friends with.

Or maybe that theory was bullshit. Abby and Patty seemed to think so. They didn’t think that Holtz should give Gilbert the time of day.

Holtzmann couldn’t help but look for the good in people. She wasn’t willing to write anyone off without giving them a chance to explain themselves. One day, she wanted to hear what Gilbert’s explanation was. _Then_ she would make up her mind.

Up until this year, she’d never had an opportunity to speak with the Slytherin alone. She was always travelling with her friends, who gave Holtz the stink eye or made snide comments about her under their breath. Holtz thought it was worth noting that Gilbert never partook in this. She hovered at the back, a few steps behind the others, and looked anywhere but Holtzmann. All the same, she was there, and she was never alone.

This year, something had changed. Well, it had been near the end of their fifth year, actually. Holtz didn’t know what had happened between Gilbert and the rest of her house, but suddenly she was never with her friends. There were empty seats beside her in class and during meals, and Holtzmann could hear the names they called her and the way their laugher hit the back of Gilbert’s head like darts.

More than ever, she resembled the Erin who Holtzmann had met on the Hogwarts Express: scared and alone.

She thought maybe this was her chance to reconnect with the Slytherin, but she knew better than to be the one to reach out. She’d learnt her lesson five years ago.

***

Holtz was striding through the castle on her way to the Hufflepuff common room when she saw a group of sixth year Slytherin students walking towards her on the other side of the corridor. She recognized them immediately as Phil Hudson and his thugs, Hawkins and Rorke.

It shouldn’t have come as so much of a surprise as it did when Rorke’s foot stuck out as she was passing by, causing her to fall spectacularly: her glasses flying off her face and her books tumbling to the ground. Maybe it surprised her because she thought by sixth year, they’d have all matured beyond tripping people. Apparently not.

She heard footsteps echo down the corridor and then there were hands helping her gather her spilt books. She looked up to see who it was, and froze.

It was Erin Gilbert, and she looked furious.

She handed Holtz a stack of books. Holtzmann took them a little incredulously. Then she looked around for her glasses. They couldn’t have gone far.

“Looking for these?”

Holtzmann’s head snapped up to see the three Slytherins standing there, laughing, with her glasses on the ground in front of them.

“Give those back, Phil,” Gilbert snapped.

He smirked. “Sure thing.” Then he stamped his shoe down. Holtzmann heard the crunch of the glass breaking. He kicked the bent frames, and they spun across the ground towards the two of them.

Holtz snatched them up and shoved them in the pocket of her robes. She could fix them later. She stood up.

Gilbert did the same beside her. “You’re an asshole, Phil. What did Holtzmann ever do to you?”

Holtz could only look at her in shock. Was she _defending_ her?

The Slytherins laughed.

“Would you look at that, boys? _Figures_ that the only alive friend that Ghost Girl can make is _this_ loser.”

Pure, unbridled fury crossed Gilbert’s face. “Don’t CALL ME THAT.”

Before Holtzmann could process what was happening, Gilbert had launched herself at Phil. Taken off guard, Hawkins and Rorke took a moment before they managed to pull her off and hold her kicking and struggling away from him.

He smoothed his robes down, clearly flustered. “You’re just as crazy as _she_ is. You filthy mudbloods deserve each other.”

Erin broke free from their grasps, drew back her fist, and punched him square in the nose.

He immediately staggered backwards as blood began to dribble down from his now-crooked nose. His hand flew up to it in shock.

Holtzmann stifled a laugh.

Phil removed his wand and for a moment, Holtzmann thought he was going to curse both of them. Almost instinctively, she took a step closer to Erin.

He turned the wand towards his own face, though, and muttered, “ _Episkey._ ” Then he glared at Gilbert for a second longer. “Hawkins, Rorke, let’s go,” he snapped, and then the three of them stalked off.

It was quiet for a minute as they watched the Slytherins go.

“Are you okay?” Erin asked in a low and quiet voice. “Did they hurt you?”

“I’m peachy. Thank you…for coming to my rescue.”

Erin bit her lip. “I should’ve done that a long time ago.”

Holtz didn’t really know how to respond to that. She pulled her broken glasses from her pocket and drew her own wand. “ _Oculus Reparo,_ ” she murmured. A few seconds later, they were as good as new, and she slid them on before returning her wand to her back pocket.

Holtz tugged on her ear. “Well…I guess I should—”

“Can we talk?” Erin interrupted, anxious-sounding.

“Talk?”

“Yes, it’s…a thing…that people do.”

Holtzmann smirked. “Is it?”

Gilbert sighed.

“Sure, we can talk,” Holtz added quickly. “Let’s go some place more private.”

She led Erin up to the seventh floor and down the left corridor. It took a few times walking back and forth before the door appeared. She pulled it open and ushered them inside.

The room was mid-sized and cluttered. In the corner, the blanket fort she’d constructed last time was still standing. Heaped on a table were piles of scrap metal and half-assembled circuit boards, and a tool box spilling over.

She turned to take in Gilbert’s reaction. She was standing there with her mouth hanging open. Instantly, Holtz regretted bringing her here. What had she been thinking?

“What _is_ this place?” Erin asked in wonder.

“I come here when I want to be alone,” Holtz replied. “I think it’s kinda like a wish-granting room, because the first time I found it I was really upset and all I wanted was to take something apart and put it back together again. Boom, the door appeared, and all this stuff with it.”

Erin extended her hand in the direction of the table, even though she was still too far away to touch it. “I’ve never even seen stuff like this in the wizarding world. I’m surprised a sentient room even knows what a circuit board _is_.”

Holtzmann laughed. “You’re telling me. Everyone’s complete bafflement over muggle technology is incredible. In my first month here I encountered five people who didn’t know what a screwdriver was. A _screwdriver_.”

Erin giggled, and Holtzmann was transported back to the Hogwarts Express five years ago. She stiffened. She tossed her books on the table and rolled her shoulders back. “So, talking?”

“Right.”

“You can sit if you want.” Holtzmann took a seat on the bench in front of the table and gestured for Gilbert to do the same.

She took a seat gingerly on the far end of the bench. “I want to apologize. For not standing up for you before today. I should’ve never let them convince me that I shouldn’t be friends with you. I _wanted_ to be friends with you. But I think I just…care too much what people think of me. So when people told me I should make friends in my own house, I took it to heart. I wanted them to like me. I’m sorry.”

“Well, I can’t really relate, because I don’t care what anyone thinks about me, but I understand. S’okay,” Holtzmann replied. “I figured it might be something like that. Hey, at least you stood up to them eventually.”

Erin looked at the floor. “Not by myself. I only stood up to them because they turned their backs on me first.”

Holtz thought about that. “But you _did_ stand up to them. You could’ve rolled over and taken it.” She paused. “Why do they call you Ghost Girl?”

Erin looked over at Holtz and bit her lip. “Last year, Phil and I dated, and he’s…well, you’ve met him.  He wasn’t very…nice to me. He always talked over me and pretended like we weren’t a couple in front of his friends, and…well, anyway, I was miserable, but I thought it was a miracle he’d agreed to date me and I wasn’t about to let him get away. I hid out a lot, away from him and his stupid friends, in the library. I had my own special corner where I’d go, and I’d stay there for hours and nobody would bother me. Except…there’s this ghost, I don’t know if you’ve met her, but her name is Gertrude. She tends to hang around the library…”

Holtz shook her head.

“Well, she tends to hide, I’m not surprised. Anyway, she found me one day when I was upset about something Phil said, and she asked me what was wrong, and I told her everything. From then on, she’d always come and sit with me whenever I was hiding and I would tell her about what was going on, and she felt…kind of like a friend. My only friend, I guess.”

Erin kicked the leg of the table. It startled Holtz, who was completely entranced by the story.

Erin continued. “One day I was in there, _really_ distraught about this stupid thing Phil said, and I was sobbing and telling her all about it, and all of a sudden I just heard this…laughing…coming from the other side of the shelf. I never found out who it was, but I know it was another Slytherin student, and they must’ve run right to tell Phil, because by that afternoon everyone was talking about how Erin Gilbert was crying about her problems to a ghost. Phil broke up with me, and started the Ghost Girl nickname, and it just spiraled from there. I thought that maybe…over the summer everyone would forget about it, but it’s even worse this year.”

Holtzmann’s heart fell. “I’m sorry.”

Erin lip wobbled. “So now I don’t have any friends, and it’s all my fault because I picked the wrong people, and…I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I was supposed to be apologizing to you, but I…I don’t want it to seem like I’m crawling back to you after being dumped by all the friends who I abandoned you for. Even though I kind of am. But I don’t expect…I don’t want you to take pity on me or feel like you have to be my friend, and I wouldn’t expect you to, because I was mean to you, and I lost my chance at friendship with you, and—”

“Erin, Erin…” Holtz laid a hand on the Slytherin’s arm. She could see tears glistening in her eyes. “I forgive you, okay? And I want to be your friend. Not out of pity, but because I’ve wanted to be your friend since I first met you.”

“Really?”

Holtz nodded and removed her hand from Erin’s arm.

“I’ve wanted to be your friend, too,” Erin said.

“So…friends?” Holtz extended her hand. An invitation.

Erin shook it without hesitation. “Friends.”

They both held the grasp for a few moments longer than necessary. When they finally broke their hands apart, Holtzmann swallowed thickly.

She was friends with Erin Gilbert again.

Erin picked up a half-assembled clock from the table and examined it. “So you like building stuff?”

“Yeah. Magic is all well and good, but I like getting my hands dirty, y’know? My dad is…was…an engineer. I grew up in his workshop.”

“Right! I remember you telling me that on the train,” Erin said. She paused. “Was?”

Holtzmann snatched a wire off the table and twisted it around her finger. “He um…hediedinsecondyear.”

Erin’s mouth fell open. “Holtzmann…I’m so sorry.”

“He got sick. By the time they found out, it was too late.” Holtz blinked back tears. “I was…pretty angry at the world. It felt unfair that I could live in a world where magic existed but there was nothing anyone could do to save my dad. I hated both the wizarding world and the muggle world for failing him.” She looked at the ground. “That was the year I found this place. Sitting in here, away from everyone, I was able to grieve. Building stuff made me feel close to him. The first thing I made was…” She reached under her collar and pulled the thick chain out from around her neck and tilted the pendant towards Erin.

Erin reached out and touched the metal. “Screw-U?”

Holtz grimaced. “It’s not a great tribute to him, I guess. But it’s my raw emotion poured into something solid and real. It’s my memories of him shaped and smoothed into a curve of metal in my hands.”

“I think that’s beautiful,” Erin said, and she sounded so serious that Holtz nearly hugged her.

***

Holtz was lying on one of the overstuffed armchairs in the Hufflepuff common room, with her legs up the back and her head dangling off the edge. All the blood rushing to her head made her think better. She fiddled with her wand in her hands, running her thumb along the smooth black wood. It was a good stand-in for metal when she was feeling fidgety.

“You’re doing that wrong,” a male voice said.

An upside-down Kevin came into her field of vision.

“You’re supposed to sit like this,” he said, taking a seat in the armchair across from her.

“We’ve been through this, Kev. I like sitting like this.”

“Oh, right.”

“Hey, can I run something by you?”

Her dopey puppy dog of a friend nodded excitedly.

Holtzmann rolled upright. She was starting to feel light-headed anyway. “Okay, so I have a dilemma. Do you remember me talking about Erin Gilbert?”

He nodded again. “Of course!”

“I think we’re friends now.”

“Yay!”

“Yes. Yes, yay. But also not-yay, Kev. See, I’m a very forgiving person, but Abby and Patty are _not_. At all. They wouldn’t approve. But I can’t not tell them, y’know? And I _want_ to be friends with Erin. So I’m a little conflicted. What do you think I should do?”

His face crinkled up, clearly confused. “Uhhhhh…”

“It’s okay, Kev. Don’t hurt yourself. I think I just need to tell them. What’s the worst that could happen, right?”

“Right!”

Holtz beamed at her friend. “Thanks for your help, buddy. Hey, want to play a round of H&S before it gets too late?”

“Yeah! You seek.”

“Sure thing. Remember, hide _inside_ the castle this time. We don’t want a repeat of last week. The centaurs have only _just_ calmed down.”

***

Holtz shoved her hands in her pockets and shuffled nervously. “Patty, Abby…you know Erin.”

Erin timidly extended a hand to shake and Abby glared at her. “You have a lot of nerve, Gilbert.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t—”

“I thought you were too _good_ to associate with people outside your house. Or is that just what you told Holtz so she’d leave you alone?”

“I never actually told her that,” Erin mumbled under her breath.

Patty was shaking her head at Erin with a disapproving glare.

“You don’t _deserve_ to be friends with her. She’s too good for you,” Abby continued.

“Abby, Abby.” Holtz patted her arm. “It’s okay. Really.”

“No it’s not. She _hurt_ you. She turned her back on you. And just because _you_ forgive people easily doesn’t mean that I do.”

“I know, Abby. I know.”

“I think what Abby’s trying to say,” Patty interjected, “is that neither of us have forgotten what you did. And if you hurt our Holtzy again, we’ll kick your ass.”

Abby pointed. “That.”

“I won’t,” Erin said quietly.

“Damn right,” Abby muttered.

 ***

Holtz was distracted.

Quidditch practice was a terrible time to be distracted, especially when you were the one in charge of keeping vicious balls from attacking your teammates.

One of the Hufflepuff Chasers, Garrett, did a barrel roll to avoid a Bludger.

“A little help over here?” he shouted.

Holtzmann cursed under her breath and took off towards him. The satisfying crack of the Bludger against her bat sent it spiralling across the pitch.

“Thank you,” Garrett said, a little sarcastically.

Holtz winked and circled away from him.

She managed to maintain her focus for the rest of practice. When it was over, she shouldered her broom and pushed her yellow-lensed Quidditch goggles to the top of her head.

“You were off your game today, Holtzmann,” Garrett commented as the team made their way back to the common room.

She couldn’t even argue. No matter what she did, she couldn’t stop thinking about Erin.

“Won’t happen again,” she said with a two-fingered salute.

She wasn’t sure if it was a promise she could keep.

 

 


	4. November

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooops bet you've all forgotten about this fic because it's been so long! Sorry about that

**November**

It was strange, Erin thought, that Potions was becoming her favourite subject. Well, maybe not so strange—just unexpected. She’d never been much of a fan of Professor Heiss. He was difficult to impress unless your potions were perfect. Erin’s were, but that was beside the point. She didn’t have perfect potions because she wanted to impress Professor Heiss (okay, maybe a little), she had perfect potions because it was easy. Science, that’s all it was. Chemistry. Precision. If you followed the instructions and paid attention, you’d have perfect results every time. Still, though, she’d never been a fan.

Holtzmann made it worthwhile, though. Holtzmann made her love Potions.

She wasn’t in Potions right now, though. She was in a class that ranked far lower—mostly because of who taught it. History of Magic may have, in itself, been an interesting class, but History of Magic with Professor Filmore…

The stuffy, dry, old man had even more distaste for his students than Professor Heiss, and that was saying something. He was ancient, and hadn’t changed his curriculum in all the years he’d been teaching. He refused to listen to anything except the outdated textbook from which he taught. And, this was all made much worse by the fact that listening to him lecture was somewhat akin to watching paint dry.

Most students didn’t continue on with History of Magic past fifth year, but here Erin was, in the NEWT-level class. She was suffering through because she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life yet, and she wanted to keep her options open by taking as many courses as possible. As it stood, there were only three students in the class: Erin, a seventh year boy, and Holtzmann’s friend Patty. The Ravenclaw apparently found the subject fascinating, and wanted to be a magical historian. She seemed to have a memory for that kind of stuff that far surpassed Erin’s.

Patty had warmed up to Erin fairly quickly, much to her relief. She trusted Holtzmann’s word that Erin deserved forgiveness. Abby Yates, on the other hand, could apparently hold a grudge like nobody’s business. Erin wasn’t exactly sure what she had to do to earn Abby’s trust or forgiveness. When she asked Holtzmann, the Hufflepuff had merely said, “She’ll forgive you when she decides to forgive you,” and left it at that.

“You going to the match today?” Patty asked beside Erin, dragging her from her thoughts.

“What?” Erin tried to keep her voice low enough that Professor Filmore wouldn’t hear, which wasn’t hard. He would probably keep lecturing even if an apocalypse broke out around him.

“Quidditch? The match? Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin? Gonna go support ya girl?”

Erin blinked. “Do you mean Holtzmann?”

“Keep up, Gilbert. Who else?”

Erin bit her lip. “I’d have to sit with my house, though, and I don’t know if—”

“Suck it up. It’s the first game of the season and Holtzy’s real excited. Even rooting for the opposite team, you still gotta be there for her.”

Erin frowned. “Why would I root for the other team?”

“You get dropped a lot as a baby, Gilbert?”

“Oh, because Slytherin is playing. Right.”

Patty shook her head. “Damn, girl. I thought you were one of the smart ones.”

***

Erin followed the rest of the school out to the Quidditch pitch and took a seat up in the Slytherin stands by some first years who (hopefully) didn’t know about the whole Ghost Girl business. Although, knowing Phil, he had probably made sure the new members of the house were up to speed. Erin pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and sunk a little further down in her seat.

Erin didn’t get that into Quidditch, generally speaking. She used to attend the games, because everyone did, but after a while she made excuses and escaped to the library instead.

Because it was the first game of the season, the crowd was especially rambunctious. As the game started, her fellow Slytherins started hollering, and a few rows in front of her she heard some of Phil’s cronies jeering and yelling insults at the Hufflepuff players. Phil himself was on the team, Seeker, and he was currently smugly floating down in the Slytherin end of the pitch.

Erin tried to locate Holtzmann and spotted her zipping through the middle of the pitch and swinging her bat wildly. She was a damn good flyer, Erin thought, and must have incredible upper body strength. At that moment, Holtzmann darted just in time to smack a Bludger away from one of her teammates and sent it careening across the pitch.

As the game progressed, Erin tried to remain neutral as possible, clapping politely for every goal from both teams, because the last thing she needed was to be further ostracized for house treason. The game was pretty equal so far, and Hufflepuff was holding up surprisingly well to the ruthless strategies of the Slytherin players (who, Erin decided, exemplified the worst sort of Slytherins). The commentator, Holtzmann’s friend Abby, seemed to agree.

“Foul! Come on, that was a total foul! What the shit is this? Well, after a _completely_ illegal and jackass move from Slytherin’s Rowan North, Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle. And—oh! It seems the Snitch has been spotted!”

All at once, the two Seekers streaked skyward. Erin was on the edge of her seat watching them race towards a flash of gold, then a commotion below caught her eye. A Bludger was flying towards one of the Hufflepuff Chasers, but Holtzmann was on its tail. At the last second, she dove between them and smashed it away from the Chaser.

“Both Seekers are neck in neck at this point in pursuit of the Snitch. Who will reach it first? Who will see victory?”

After Holtzmann’s hit, the Bludger was now hurtling in the direction of the Seekers so fast it was a blur in the sky, and nobody else seemed to notice. The Slytherin Beaters were on the other side of the pitch entirely. Unaware of what was behind them, the two Seekers both had their arms outstretched, when suddenly—

“OH! And the Slytherin’s Phil Hudson has been struck square in the back by a Bludger and has spiraled out of control! That’s gotta hurt. Not to be distracted, Hufflepuff’s Kevin Beckman is pulling ahead, and…he’s done it! Hufflepuff has caught the Snitch, and wins!”

Erin jumped out of her seat and cheered, bouncing up and down in place. Around her, her housemates were cussing and calling out protests, and didn’t seem to notice. Erin continued to applaud as she watched Holtzmann circle around the pitch and pump her arm in the air.

What a game.

***

“Those were some moves out there,” Erin said once she had caught up to Holtzmann after the game.

Holtzmann mimed swinging a bat and made an explosion noise.

“You basically won Hufflepuff the game,” Erin continued.

Holtzmann shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to. In the moment, I wasn’t thinking in terms of Seekers catching the Snitch, I just had a clear shot at him and didn’t want to waste it.”

“What?”

“That douche-canoe, Phil. I wanted to knock him off his high horse…or high broom, in this case.”

“You were trying to hit him just for the sake of hitting him?”

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“He’s an ass,” Holtzmann said simply. “He was an ass to me and he was an ass to you. He deserved to fall on his ass.”

Erin swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “Thank you.”

***

Erin was curled on her bed in her dormitory when she caught a flash of motion in the corner of the room. She sat up with interest and set aside her half-finished Transfiguration homework.

“Oh!” she cried out when she spotted familiar beige fur. “Amicus, is that you?”

The cat snarled and retreated into the shadows.

“Wait!” She reached her hand in his direction, then clicked her tongue. Just once, she’d like him to stay.

She’d found Amicus in the alley behind her house in the summer before her third year at Hogwarts. She’d never had a pet before, and thought he could keep her company at school. She’d lured him into the house with some food, and smuggled him past her parents all the way to Hogwarts. He was a mangy Siamese, with a crimped tail and one ear missing, and would hiss whenever she came within a metre of him, but she loved him all the same.

She crawled off her bed and raised her wand. “ _Lumos,_ ” she whispered, and watched the tip glow. She crept closer to the shadows where she knew Amicus was lurking, careful to be quiet so she wouldn’t spook him. The light glinted off his beady eyes and he didn’t move, so she wormed closer still. Finally, she got close enough, crouched down, and stretched her hand to graze the top of his head.

In a flash, he spat and hissed and swiped his claws down her arm. She fell back out of surprise, her wand clattering to the ground. Amicus ran, and Erin was left sprawled on the concrete, alone as always, with a set of nasty scratch marks up and down her arm.

***

The next day the marks had only worsened, but she didn’t want to bother anyone by going to the hospital wing. The day after that, the skin around the wounds was beginning to swell, but she payed it no mind and continued with her studies.

She was tucked against the wall in one of the outdoor corridors, sheltered from the cold wind but still able to appreciate the fresh air, working on an essay for Potions. It was becoming increasingly more painful to write.

All of a sudden, a muffled screeching jarred her from her concentration, and she looked up to see a small, decrepit-looking, scrawny, brown-feathered owl rushing down the corridor towards her. It looked like it was heading straight for her, and coming down fast. She screamed and ducked her head just in time, and the owl hit the ground just past her and did a few somersaults before coming to a stop.

She stared in horror for a few moments, then the owl got up, ruffled its feathers, and hopped towards her no worse for wear. It extended a leg to her, and she saw a small roll of parchment attached there.

Who could be sending her mail? It wasn’t like her parents were ones for correspondence, and she knew nobody with an owl. Maybe it was Phil, playing some sort of joke. Warily, she removed the scroll and teased it open.

_Hey Gilbert,_

_Meet me at The Room tonight at 8:00_

_If you can’t make it, send something back with Bennie_

_If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you’re coming_

_xo JHoltz_

Erin ran her thumb along the ink and glanced over at the owl, who was hopping around in circles for no apparent reason. She looked back down at the note. Then back at the owl.

“You can leave,” she said finally.

The sorry excuse for a bird blinked at her.

She reached into her pocket and produced a few Knuts. “Would this help?”

He stared.

“I…fine, then. Stay here.” She turned back to her essay and began writing again.

A few minutes later, the owl snatched her parchment straight from her lap and took off.

“Hey!” she shouted. “Come back! Come back with that!”

It was no use. The owl was long gone.

Whose idea was it to let birds deliver mail, anyway?

***

Erin found her way to the seventh floor corridor where the room was located shortly before 8:00pm, and then remembered that the door was invisible. She wasn’t sure what exactly Holtzmann had done to get it to show itself.

She paced the spot where she thought it might be and drew her wand. “ _Revelio_ ,” she muttered. Nothing happened. She tried again.

Well, that wasn’t going to work. Maybe she’d be able to find it manually. She walked the length of the corridor with her fingertips trailing the wall in the hopes that she’d be able to feel a groove of some sort.

“Why ya petting the wall?”

Erin stiffened and whirled to face Holtzmann, who was leaning against the wall just down the corridor with a smirk on her face. She blushed. “I couldn’t remember how you revealed the door last time.”

“You’ve gotta wish for it.” Holtzmann strode over with her hands in the pockets of her trousers. “See?” She gestured to the wall, where the door had materialized, and pulled it open. “After you.”

***

“I’m glad you came,” Holtzmann said once they were inside. She had gotten to work right away, on something that Erin couldn’t quite make out.

Erin took a seat on one of the benches. “Of course. I would’ve sent a note back with…your owl…if I couldn’t.”

Holtzmann chuckled. “I can tell you’re not impressed by Bennie.”

“He stole my Potions essay,” Erin replied bitterly.

“Oh! Right!” Holtzmann dropped her tools and reached inside her robe, then brandished a roll of parchment.

“Is that my essay?” Erin took the parchment and unrolled it. Her hard work was all still there.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Bennie’s not the greatest at his job.”

“I’ll say,” Erin scoffed.

“Hey, he’s got a lot of heart, and that’s what counts.”

“Is he yours?”

“Nah, Abby’s. I just borrow him, because I like him better than the school owls. They’re more uptight about delivering mail outside of mail times. Bennie doesn’t care.”

“Does he even know the difference?”

Holtzmann smirked. “Do you have an owl?”

“I have a cat,” Erin admitted. “He doesn’t like me, though.”

“Doesn’t like you? Impossible. What’s not to like about you?”

Erin blushed. “Trust me, he doesn’t like me.”

“Did he give you those nasty scratches? I wasn’t gonna comment on them, but…”

Erin glanced down at her arm. “Oh, yeah. I cornered him a few days ago and tried to pet him. He wasn’t very happy.”

Holtzmann tsked. “You should get that checked out. How long have you had—what’s his name?”

“Amicus. I found him before third year.”

Holtzmann stared at her. “Amicus.”

“Yes.”

“ _Amicus._ ”

“Yes?”

“As in, Latin for ‘friend?’”

“Companion,” Erin replied defensively.

“You named your cat—who doesn’t even like you— _friend?_ Now _that_ is the saddest thing I’ve heard all day, Erin Gilbert.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Erin said.

Holtzmann leaned forward and moved her glasses to the top of her head with a soft grin. “I’m not. It’s sweet. I’m sorry he doesn’t like you.”

Erin shook her head and tried to ignore the way her heart rate increased at that smile. “You have such pretty eyes,” she blurted. “They’re always covered by the glasses.”

Holtzmann looked skyward, as if she could see the glasses resting there.

 “I’ve always wondered,” Erin continued, even though she knew she should just shut up, “if you chose the colour to match your house.”

Holtzmann shook her head, which caused the glasses in question to fall back down, just barely caught. She left them there, resting on the very tip of her nose. “Happy coincidence. They help me soften some of the more intense light.” She tapped the arm. “Muggle technology strikes again.”

“Well, they suit you.”

Holtzmann’s grin widened. “Thank you. Now, there’s something I’ve always wondered, too. Are you aware that the word ‘Slytherin’ has ‘Erin’ in it? Right there at the end?”

Erin smiled back. “Another happy coincidence, I guess. Nobody else has ever commented on it.”

“But you recognized it?”

“Of course. It’s my name, how could I not?”

“You ever wonder if you were placed in the wrong house? I know I do,” Holtzmann said abruptly.

“I…” Erin paused and thought about it. “No,” she said finally, “I’m where I’m meant to be. I think the name thing only proves that.”

“You don’t seem like a Slytherin,” Holtzmann prodded.

“Then maybe,” Erin countered, “you need to expand your view of what a Slytherin looks like.”

***

Later, after they departed the room and were nearly at the point where they had to part ways, Erin turned to Holtzmann.

“I had fun hanging out with you tonight.”

“We should do it more often.” Holtzmann beamed at her.

“Only if your owl doesn’t steal more of my homework.”

“Oh, come on. Bennie’s not that bad.”

Erin tilted her head.

Holtzmann chuckled. “You’ll get used to him.”

A calm silence fell over them.

“You’re gonna get that arm checked out, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I will.”

“Good. I’d hate to see you get sick or have your arm fall off or something because of it.” Holtzmann grinned toothily.

Erin’s heart fluttered. “Well, this is my turn-off. See you in Potions tomorrow?”

“See you then, Erin.”

“Night, Holtzmann.”

“G’night…and Erin?”

“Yeah?”

“You can call me Holtz.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to include this with the last chapter BUT I spent a lot of time picking out the perfect wands for them so if you're interested...  
> Holtzmann: [Ebony](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Ebony) and dragon heartstring  
> Erin: [Larch](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Larch) and unicorn tail hair


	5. December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) We've reached the final chapter! I wanna thank whoever prompted me this fic again, because it was really fun to write. Especially this last chapter! Hope you enjoy

**December**

December drifted into Hogwarts with heavy snowfall and general merriment. There was a lightness as classes drew to a close and the students prepared for Christmas holidays. Holtz would be staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, which she had done every year since her dad passed. She loved the castle at Christmastime, it was cozy and welcoming, and there were only a few students who didn’t go home, most of whom she knew by name.

Erin Gilbert wasn’t one of the students who stuck around, and Holtz knew that, but it didn’t stop her from asking one day when they were studying in the library together. Well, Erin was studying. Holtz was charming paper airplanes to fly around.

“You going home for Christmas?”

Erin looked up in surprise from her textbook and ducked her head to avoid one of the planes. “I always do. Why?”

Holtz shrugged. “Just wondering. It gets lonely around here.”

“You don’t go home for Christmas?” Erin set down her quill and wrinkled her brow.

“This is my home,” Holtz muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have a home. Not there, at least. Not since Dad died. Home is Hogwarts, plain and simple.”

“I…what about your mother?”

Holtz looked at her. “My mother died when I was little. I told you that. Back on the Hogwarts Express when we first met.”

Erin blanched. “Oh my goodness, I totally forgot. You did tell me that.”

“S’okay. It was five years ago. Wouldn’t expect you to remember that.”

Something crossed over Erin’s face. “Hold on, if your mom died when you were a kid, and your dad passed away in our second year, that means…”

“Who has two thumbs, a small colony of Flobberworms, and is a grade-A orphan? This gal.” Holtzmann pointed at herself half-heartedly.

Erin reached out to rest a hand on Holtzmann’s arm. “Oh, Holtz. I’m so sorry. Do you have any other family?”

“My aunt. I live with her in the summers, but she’s not…well, she’s a muggle, you know, and thinks magic is an abomination against God. Combine that with her philosophy on gay people, and I’m the _ultimate_ abomination. We don’t get along real well. S’why I stay here over Christmas.”

Erin retracted her hand instantly. “You’re gay?”

Holtzmann groaned. “Not you too.”

“What?” Erin looked at her hand, then back at Holtz. “Oh, no! Please don’t misread that. I’m just surprised. I didn’t know. Actually…” She glanced around the library and dropped her voice. “I’ve never heard of any gay witches or wizards. I thought maybe…I thought maybe they didn’t exist. Or it was so stigmatized that nobody talks about it.”

“Oh, there’s gay magic folk, alright. Just gotta know where to look.”

For a moment, Erin looked almost…relieved?

“Well,” she said after the expression had passed, “I’m sorry about your aunt. So you stay here every Christmas?”

Holtz nodded.

“What’s it like?”

“It’s lovely.” Holtz smiled. “Not a lot of people stay, so it’s nice and cozy. It’s fun exploring the castle without class or a bunch of students. There’s a Christmas feast, but there’s usually so few people that we all eat together. No division of the houses. It’s cool.”

“Oh,” Erin said in a quiet voice.

“What’s the matter?”

“That sounds really nice.”

“You could stay,” Holtz threw out. “We could keep each other company.”

“I always go home.” She didn’t sound thrilled about this.

“Do you _want_ to go home?”

“No,” Erin replied instantly. “Christmas is always miserable. All our family comes over and Mom and Dad make me lie and talk about the fake Muggle boarding school I supposedly attend, because nobody can know that Crazy Erin goes to magic school.” Bitterness bled through her words. “God forbid. It would ruin our image.”

“Erin,” Holtz said gently, “you don’t have to go. You could stay here and have a happy Christmas. With me. Let them scramble for an excuse as to why you’re not there. You shouldn’t have to spend your holiday pretending to be someone else. That’s not fair.” Holtz fell silent, worried maybe she said too much, and saw that a group of Gryffindors a few tables down were staring. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a few of her airplanes soaring in their direction, and that sufficiently distracted them.

Erin was silent. She picked up her quill and doodled a few spirals in the margins of her textbook.

“I shouldn’t have said that. Pretend I didn’t suggest that. That was—”

“I’ll stay,” Erin interrupted quietly without looking up.

“You’ll stay?”

“I’ll stay.”

Holtz bit her lip to keep a massive grin from spilling across her face, but when she saw a hint of a smile on Erin’s lips, she couldn’t help herself.

***

Classes finished and the Hogwarts Express ushered all their classmates home for the holidays. Holtzmann bade farewell to Abby and Patty, who promised to bring back souvenirs from their hometowns for her.

The first morning of Christmas vacation, she woke up with butterflies for some strange reason. Literal butterflies. Swarming around above her bed. She squinted up and them, and one by one they each morphed into a crumpled piece of parchment and dropped into her lap. She unfolded each of them, and saw that they were each a section of a note. She spread them out on her bedspread end-to-end.

_Happy first day of vacation._

_Meet me outside the Great Hall as soon as you’re awake._

_Erin Gilbert_

Holtz grinned and threw her covers off.

***

“Fancy bit of Transfiguration there, with the butterflies,” Holtzmann called as she strode up to where Erin was waiting.

Erin blushed and tugged at the collar of her shirt. She was dressed down, no tie, and it was the first time in a long time that Holtz had seen her without it.

“Oh, that old thing?”

She tried to play it cool, but Holtz could tell how pleased she was.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Erin asked.

“You don’t have a plan? What was the point of the fancy butterflies if you don’t have a plan?”

Erin laughed and nudged her. “Shush. You seem to know more cool things to do than I do. I figured you could figure something out.”

Holtz cracked her knuckles. “Well, you’re in luck. I know just what we should do.” She extended her elbow. “Shall we?”

After a moment of hesitation, Erin linked with her. “Let’s go.”

***

“So, where exactly are we going?”

Holtz pushed open the front entrance to the castle and ushered them through. “Hogsmeade.”

Erin stopped dead and Holtz jolted backwards. “Hogsmeade? We can’t just _go_ to Hogsmeade.”

“Sure we can. This is Christmas holidays. They don’t care what anyone does during Christmas holidays.”

“I’m not sure about this.”

“Erin, come on. Do I _seem_ like a troublemaker to you?”

“…yes.”

“Okay. Fair. But, do you see anybody trying to stop us from leaving? Trust me, it’s fine. If it wasn’t allowed, we’d be going through a secret passage right now instead of the main route.”

“ _Secret passage?_ Holtzmann!”

“Don’t repeat that to anyone, or I’ll have to kill you,” Holtz deadpanned.

***

Hogsmeade at Christmas was truly beautiful, all snow-dusted shops and cottages and enchanted candles hanging in trees. She glanced over at Erin, to see her reaction, and caught an expression of wonderment on her face. Her cheeks and nose were rosy, and snowflakes clung to the tips of her hair and rested in the divots of her hat.

A warm hum floated through Holtz at the sight, and she willed it to go away. Her arm was still linked with Erin’s, and Erin was gripping Holtz’s bicep, and for some reason this gave Holtz the urge to break away, put space between them. She ignored that feeling, too, and they kept walking.

“Warm up with a Butterbeer?” she said, voice a little gravellier than intended.

Erin dipped her head in agreement, and soon they were sitting across from each other in the Three Broomsticks with foaming tankards of Butterbeer on the small table between them. Pleasant chatter filled the air around them, but Holtz didn’t feel the need to add to it, and it seemed like Erin didn’t either. The two of them sipped from their beverages in contented silence, and Holtzmann couldn’t help but notice how comfortable this was.

She wasn’t stupid; she could connect the dots. The happy feeling she got when she looked at Erin, the tingles in her stomach…she knew she had developed somewhat of a crush on the Slytherin. It would pass, no doubt of that, but all _this_ wasn’t helping. If she didn’t know any better, she’d call this a date.

She downed the rest of her Butterbeer and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Ready to go?” Erin asked.

Holtz nodded and scraped back her chair.

***

Outside, Holtz was hesitant to initiate arm-linkage again. After their stop at the Three Broomsticks, there was a sense of gentle intimacy enveloping them, or at least on Holtz’s end. She didn’t want to break the bubble. Erin was mostly quiet, so maybe she felt it too.

They wandered for a bit, ducking in and out of shops—Holtz picked out some Christmas presents at Zonko’s to mail Abby and Patty, and even had Erin turn her back so she could buy something for her, too. It seemed strange to buy her a joke gift, but she feared giving Erin anything else would be too obvious.

They loaded up on sweets at Honeydukes, and spent over forty minutes in Tomes and Scrolls while Erin paged through books, and soon the sun was beginning to set over the rooftops.

“Time to head back?” Holtz suggested.

“Probably best,” Erin agreed.

They took off in the direction of the school, and Holtz noted the way they both held their bags in their outer hands, leaving the ones between them free. She noticed it, but she wasn’t about to pull anything.

As they walked, she felt Erin’s fingertips nudge her hand, then again, and then with a reserved timidness, Erin’s hand slid into Holtz’s. Her heart pounded, and she glanced sideways at Erin, whose jaw was set in a way that conveyed anxiety. She must’ve felt Holtz looking, because she met her eyes for a moment. A smile crept from the corners of Holtz’s mouth, and Erin returned it for a fraction of a second before she blushed and ducked her head away. Holtz’s eyes remained on her for a moment longer, then she directed her attention back ahead, watching the way the snow drifted to the trees, and she gave Erin’s hand a little squeeze, if only to let her know that it was okay with her.

More than okay, actually.

***

In the following days, they navigated each other around this new _something,_ which Holtz couldn’t quite put her finger on. Things had shifted between them, become more malleable, and she wasn’t sure what had caused it. Maybe it was her confession in the library that had acted as a catalyst, or maybe it was just the way the holiday season had a way of making everything a little softer, a little blurrier, a little more romantic. For once, she didn’t think she was imagining things or reading too far into the situation. Whatever it was, they weren’t talking about it, but it existed between them like a hearth to sit in front of, to warm their hands over in the ice of the season.

Holtzmann could only wonder what would happen when the snow melted—when the real world returned and broke the spell, to coin a phrase.

Would the flames die out?

***

They spent almost every minute together. They explored rooms and corridors they’d never been to, got separated by moving staircases a few times, ate their meals at the same table because who was going to forbid it? The Christmas population was at an all time low, and neither the handful of other students nor the professors paid them no attention.

They were free to do whatever they wanted.

***

“Astronomy Tower.” Holtz cleared her throat. “Tonight.”

Erin looked up from her food. “What time?”

“Midnight?”

Erin nodded slowly.

She was surprised that didn’t take more convincing, but Erin _had_ warmed up to the ‘No rules at Christmas’ philosophy fast.

***

Holtz climbed the stairs up to the Astronomy Tower with nervous energy pulsing through her veins. When she reached the top, she made her way to one of the gaping windows to gaze out at the stars. Erin wasn’t there yet. She was fairly early—she wanted to give herself a bit of time alone before Erin arrived.

She didn’t get much of that time. Erin was an extremely punctual person, in that she was almost always a full twenty minutes early, so she showed up shortly after Holtz did.

“Hey,” Holtz said, her voice creaky.

“Hey.” Erin came to stand beside her. “I’ve never been here outside of class. It’s weird.”

“Well, it _is_ forbidden,” Holtzmann teased.

“Not at Christmas,” Erin countered.

Holtz tilted her head. “Right.”

“Wait, _is_ it?”

“Shh.” Holtz grabbed for Erin’s hand. “Look at the stars.”

Erin huffed a little, but soon she was gazing out at the world beyond. They were silent. An owl flew past outside and they both jumped.

“Why are we here?” Erin asked.

“To enjoy the view.”

“Fair enough,” Erin breathed.

They fell silent again except for their breath.

“Up here,” Holtz whispered, “this close to the stars, it kinda feels like we’re the only people.”

“In the castle?”

“In the world.”

Erin mused that. “Almost,” she said at last.

“Erin.” Holtz’s voice broke. She exhaled a cloud. The tower wasn’t well insulated. She should’ve brought a blanket. “Erin,” she repeated, clearer.

Erin turned to her. The moon traced a path down the slope of her nose, the bend of her jaw. A question pooled in her eyes.

Holtz swallowed. She was sure there was a question in her eyes too, although she wasn’t positive it was the same one.

She reached out and followed the river of moonlight with the pads of her fingers. Erin turned perfectly still under her touch. Holtz wasn’t sure if this was a good sign. She’d never done this before. She hesitated for a moment longer, then leaned in and ever so gently brushed her lips against Erin’s.

Erin unfroze at once, and pressed closer to Holtz, her hands fluttering to land on Holtz’s hips, then leave, then return again indecisively. Holtz cradled Erin’s face with both palms, trembling slightly, as she pulled back. Erin brought their foreheads together almost instantly, and her cool breath tickled against Holtz’s skin when she exhaled.

Holtz’s impulse was to say something, crack a joke maybe, but she refrained.

“Oh,” Erin whispered. “That answers that question, then.”

“What question?” Holtz breathed.

“Every question.”

***

They slipped from the Astronomy Tower not long after, with some sort of unspoken agreement that whatever this was had to be handled delicately, slowly, so as not to break it. They made their way hand-in-hand down the stairs and through the castle, and when they reached the point where they should’ve parted ways, Holtz made an impromptu decision and tugged Erin by the hand.

“Where are we going?”

Holtz held a finger to her lips. Even over holidays, it was forbidden to be out of bed this late. The Hogwarts ghosts wandered the halls at night, and while some were less likely to tell on you than others, Holtz still didn’t want to run into anyone. Especially the resident poltergeist, Slimer, who was a regular menace and would no doubt wake up half the castle if he spotted or heard them.

She lead Erin to their destination, and even once they were there, Holtz wasn’t sure that it had become any clearer to her. She reached into her back pocket and produced her wand, then leaned to tap the tip of it to the barrels in front of her.

She glanced at Erin as the entranceway opened, to see if she knew where they were yet, then lead them inside. As expected, when they reached the common room it was deserted, the few Hufflepuffs around for the holidays long retired to bed. She tried to see the room through Erin’s eyes, tried to remember what it was like to step into the common room for the first time. Normally, it was more lively than this, yet just as calm. The plants, certainly, gave the impression of life. The room was bright even in darkness, the light from the never-dying fireplace dancing off the honey walls.

“This is the Huflepuff common room?” Erin asked quietly, awe in her voice.

“What do you think?” Holtzmann shifted nervously from foot to foot. The room was _very_ Hufflepuff. She wasn’t sure a Slytherin would appreciate it.

“It’s so…warm. Cozy. _Light_. The Slytherin quarters are the exact opposite of this.”

“Never been,” Holtz admitted.

“It’s in the dungeons. Under the lake. It’s so dark. Cold. I’ve always wondered why we don’t let some light in. I…I like it, it feels like home to me, but it’s not a cheerful place. That’s for sure.”

Holtzmann hummed. “Want to see my dormitory?”

“Won’t there be people?”

“I’m the only sixth year here over the holidays. Got the place to myself.” Holtz realized after she said it how that sounded. “The grand tour wouldn’t be complete without a stop,” she added.

Erin nodded. Holtz pulled her in the direction of her dormitory. Once inside, she pointed out her bed.

“It’s nice,” Erin said softly, looking around the room.

“You could stay,” Holtz blurted. “I don’t mean to suggest anything—”

Erin blushed.

“—but I’d love it if you stayed. I’d hate to think about you going back to the dungeons alone.”

“You say that like I don’t live there and sleep there every night.”

“Right. Well…all the same. Stay?”

Erin nodded slowly. She glanced at the beds. “Should I…”

“We can share. If you want. Or not.”

“We can share,” Erin echoed.

A bit shyly, they changed into pajamas (Holtz loaned Erin a pair) and clambered into Holtz’s four-poster bed. Holtz pulled the patchwork quilt over them and the two stared up at the ceiling.

“Hey, Erin?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve always kind of wondered…you’re a Muggle-born, right?”

A pause. “Yes.”

“I know…” Holtz inhaled and tried again. “There aren’t a lot of Muggle-born Slytherins, are there.”

Another pause. “No, there’s not that many.”

“What’s that like?”

“Hard, sometimes. Values are changing. As a whole, the house still cares about your blood status, but there used to be such a focus on pure-bloods. Now, as the number of pure-blood families continues to drop, and the stigma of being Muggle-born is disappearing with it, it’s a little easier than it may have been a few generations back. There are people—” She broke off, and Holtz could hear her swallow— “who still believe that only pure-bloods should be allowed into Slytherin, and that a Muggle-born Slytherin is a disgrace, but they’re harder to find than they used to be. Most Slytherins are half-bloods, and there are a lot of open-minded Slytherins. More than you’d think.”

“Are there a lot of nice Slytherins, like you? Or are you as mythical as I think you are?”

“There are more than you’d think,” Erin repeated, her voice a little harder. “Look, I know that Slytherins have a bad reputation, and historically we don’t have a great track record, but we’re more multi-faceted than people think. And if…whatever this is…is going to work, then I need to know that that’s not how you see me. That I’m not an anomaly, who maybe shouldn’t be in Slytherin at all. I’m proud to be in my house, just as you’re proud to be in yours.”

“I’m sorry,” Holtz whispered. “You’re right. I’ve been too narrow-minded. With every minute I spend with you, I’m starting to see everything that Slytherins can be, not…an anomaly.”

“Good,” Erin replied. “I’m glad.”

They fell silent, and it wasn’t long before Erin’s breathing evened out beside her, and shortly after that Holtz let the sound of it lull her into her own sleep.

***

Holtz awoke the next morning to an empty bed, and it took her a few moments to recognize that that was wrong. She sat up quickly, only to see Erin on the other side of the room, and relaxed again.

“Morning,” she croaked.

Erin spun around. “Oh, good, you’re up. Come on, we’re going to miss breakfast.”

Holtz stretched her arms overhead. “We don’t need to go. We’re right beside the kitchen. I’m friends with all the house-elves. They always keep leftovers around if you miss a meal. Just gotta know to ask. Plus I invented a magical hot plate that I keep under my bed. Haven’t quite fine-tuned it yet…it either heats up your food perfectly or burns it to ashes.”

Erin frowned. “Oh. Well, all the same, I’d like to go to actual breakfast, and I don’t have any clue where I am in the castle.”

“I said, by the kitchen.” Holtzmann yawned.

“Where’s that?”

Holtz shook her head with a teasing smile. “C’mon, Gilbert. Let’s get you out of here before someone sees you.”

***

The days continued to pass by, and soon it was Christmas morning. Holtz woke up bouncing, and took in the pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She’d agreed with Erin to meet in the Room to open their presents together, so Holtz gathered up the stack and made her way there.

They spent the morning lazing together in a cozy, blanket-filled corner of the Room that had appeared for this purpose and opened their presents. Holtz had gifts from Patty, Abby, Kevin, and Erin to open, and Erin had the gift from Holtz, something small from Patty, and an envelope from her parents.

She watched Erin open the joke gift from Zonko’s and pretend to be shocked, and Holtz opened her gift from Erin, which turned out to be a book on Muggle engineering, which Erin refused to say how she’d got. Patty had sent them both books, and Erin seemed touched that she’d been thought of. Abby had sent Holtz a set of Extendable Ears. Kevin, inexplicably, gave her flesh-eating slug repellent. Did he know something she didn’t?

Erin weighed the envelope from her parents in her hands for a few moments, then tore it right in half without even opening it, and tossed it into the fireplace beside her.

“I’d rather not know,” she said in explanation.

***

Later, they made their way down to the Great Hall for the Christmas feast. All the remaining students and the professors sat communally around one table, piled high with every food imaginable. Holtz stacked her plate eagerly. Beside her, Erin laughed and selected a more modest portion.

Professor Gorin, the Transfiguration professor and Holtz’s favourite, took a seat across from them and stared them down over the rims of her glasses.

“Happy Christmas, Miss Holtzmann, Miss Gilbert.”

“Happy Christmas,” they echoed back.

“Have you two been having a good holiday?” She tilted her head with a perceptive eyebrow raise, but underneath her stern mask there was a twinkle in her eye.

Holtz licked her lips. “Uhh…” She glanced sideways at Erin. “Yeah, it’s been good.”

Erin ducked her head in a nod, her face pinkening slightly.

“Wonderful.” She glanced down at the other end of the table. “Excuse me, it appears the Headmaster is attempting to juggle candles.” She stood and swept off with her robes billowing behind her.

“Do you think she knows?” Erin asked.

“Professor Gorin knows everything,” Holtz replied with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Transfiguration had been her favourite subject ever since first year. She loved it—it was like the engineering of the wizarding world. Turning things into other things. She’d taken to it almost instantly, and found comfort in Professor Gorin’s down-to-earth, no-nonsense, tough-love approach. She was like the mother Holtz had never had, and she knew when to encourage Holtz and when to reign her in. “She’s all-seeing.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that okay?” Holtz set down her fork. “Are you…are you going to want to hide this, after everyone else gets back? I know it could ruin your reputation…”

“What reputation? Can’t ruin what’s already at the bottom.” Erin laughed. “No, I…I don’t want to hide this.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You’d be okay with the whole school knowing that you’re dating a Hufflepuff? A _female_ Hufflepuff?”

Erin met her gaze. “We’re dating?”

“Aren’t we?” Holtz swallowed.

“You tell me.”

“Didn’t I just?”

Erin giggled. “Yeah, Holtz, we’re dating.”

Holtzmann grinned in response and grabbed hold of a turkey leg. “Nice.”

“Next order of business,” Erin said thoughtfully as she scooped up a forkful of vegetables, “getting your friend Abby to not hate me.”

Holtz waved a hand. “Oh, Abby’ll hold a grudge for as long as she deems necessary. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be great friends in no time at all. I can sense it.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely.”

Erin smiled back at her. “I’m glad I stuck around for Christmas.”

“I’m glad you did, too.” Holtz found Erin’s free hand with her own and squeezed.

Snow continued to fall above their heads, and merry chatter swirled around them, and for the first time since she had stepped onto the Hogwarts Express five years prior, everything finally felt perfectly, wonderfully, magically _right_.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr at [holtzmannerin](http://holtzmannerin.tumblr.com/). As always, thank you to [Jillian-not-Holtzmann](http://lil-peanutt.tumblr.com) for betaing and for already helping SO much with this fic. She basically came up with the scene in the prologue and changed the course of this fic in a fantastic way (and helped me sort everyone, so if you don't like the sortings I'm not SOLELY to blame).


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